Anchorage Daily News

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined other women in the Senate on Wednesday in filing legislation that would improve health care for female soldiers returning from duty in Iraq.

The legislation would require that the VA system adapt to care for the 90,000 women who have served in the military since 2001. The number of women veterans accessing VA care is expected to double in the next five years, and the bill will require each VA center to have at least one women's health expert on staff.

Women face more stress when they return from combat, and are thrust back into their roles as caregivers without much of a transition, the sponsors of the legislation said.

The legislation also authorizes several studies of women veterans, including one that looks at women who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan and studies the effects of the conflicts on their physical, mental and reproductive health. The bill also requires the VA to take a look at the barriers to access women face at male-dominated VA clinics.

"We've got a VA system that we look to with a fair amount of pride in terms of how they serve our veterans," Murkowski said. But it is a system "designed to be a one size fits all. And unfortunately, that size is the male size."

They're especially concerned about sexual assaults within the military, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., one of the co-sponsors of the legislation.

Both she and Murkowski described attending town hall forums for veterans where men were outspoken about their health problems. But women waited until after the meetings to whisper some of their private concerns, including sexual assault, to the senators. The bill requires the VA's mental health professionals to be trained to care for women who have been sexually assaulted.

"Women don't have to whisper to me anymore," Murray said.

The bill's other co-sponsors are Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. Three of their male colleagues signed on as well: Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

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